SavannahMann
Platinum Member
- Nov 16, 2016
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The premise, as ridiculous as it may seem, was put forth by The NY Times. Opinion | The Climate Crisis? It’s Capitalism, Stupid
But is that really the case? I am interested in Cars. Automobiles. So let’s examine the Socialist record on the environment regarding cars.
Eastern Block cars were, to put a point to it, terrible. Simply terrible. We’ll start where West met East in Germany. While West Germany was developing dozens of great cars, and some of the best known manufacturers were gaining market share through innovation including efficiency of engines and cleanliness of the exhaust. They were not the only Germans manufacturing cars. Yes, East Germany had two options for the masses. Both were disasterous.
The first, Trabant. Trabant - Wikipedia
The car was manufactured using cotton and a resin to replace the materials used in the decadent West. You know, things like Fiberglass, Steel, Aluminum, or Carbon Fiber. There was only one problem. The bodies never break down. If there was a fire, the Duroplast was toxic as hell. It was not biodegradable, and it was powered by a two cycle engine that required premix gasoline. In other words, the oil was mixed in with the gas, like a small lawnmower engine. This obviously produces far more pollution than a dozen of those capitalist produced cars of the era. It wasn’t the only car available. You could, if you were very good, get a Wartburg. It was the more exclusive car, for the really reliable East Germans. It also used a two stroke engine, right up until the fall of the Wall.
Well, perhaps East Germans, unlike their Western Counterparts, did not have the engineering savvy.
Soviet Block cars were just flat terrible. The best selling of these was the Lada Riva. For those of you who don’t know, let me give you the history of this terrible auto. It was originally a license built Fiat 124. For those who don’t know, that car was originally produced in 1966. The Soviets bought a factory from Fiat, who gave them the tools needed to build Fiat 124’s. When this deal was penned, the Soviet representatives bragged that this car would not like the Detroit cars, be introduced with a planned obsolescence. They could well be building this car for a decade, or more. If only they knew how long the Lada would be built.
Link to the Fiat 124, the grandfather first manufactured when we had not even been to the moon. Fiat 124 - Wikipedia
The Lada that was built and sold until..... 2012. Yes, the pinnacle of Soviet Manufacturing and efficiency was still producing a car based upon an Italian Sedan from 1966. Fifty years of the same terrible design. Lada Riva - Wikipedia
Now, in the 1960’s, the 124 was revolutionary. But it was quickly overtaken by progress and was obsolete in far less than a decade.
So Socialist cars are... Terrible. They are polluting, they are incredibly bad for the environment, and the bodies of Trabant’s will be with us for another century, or more.
Hardly the efficient or environmentally friendly approach we are told that is necessary and achievable only through Socialism.
In the meantime, in the Capitalist West, cars were becoming more environmentally friendly. Leaded gasoline went the way of the Dodo, and efficiency was increasing all the time. More recycled material is going into the cars, and our Capitalist Corporations are finding new ways to stretch a watt of energy.
Today, the Socialist nations, are producing diddly squat worth having. Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea produce nothing. The most that can be said is that North Korea is straining it’s limits to copy the work of others to develop nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
While the Capitalists are risking and building things like this. Inside Tesla's New Electric Semi-Truck
I don’t know if Musk’s electric truck is going to work. I’m doubtful, because I know how hard trucks work to get cargo going, and keep it going. Diesel, which is one of the most energy dense fuels available, is burned at a rate of seven miles per gallon, and in some trucks eight, or nine miles per gallon. Basically none of the big trucks are getting ten or more per gallon in reality.
Then again, that is the genius of the Capitalist System. Progress. While Socialist systems tend to stifle progress, unless it is on the plan, and how do you plan for it? Capitalist systems operate because someone is always working on something better. Safer more efficient cars. We have four cylinder engines today producing more horsepower than the V-8 engines of my youth. They burn a quarter of the gas, and produce tremendous power. Every western manufacturer is producing some sort of Hybrid vehicle. Even more efficiency, and it’s standard these days. Everyone has it.
Venezuela is pretty much giving up trying to feed their population, much less push innovation. Cuba is still driving around in cars that were old when the Fiat 124 was introduced.
No sir, Capitalism is not the problem. If you need more proof of that, look at shipping. Coal replaced wind. Coal was more reliable than the vagaries of wind. Oil replaced coal, oil was more efficient and reliable than coal. Diesel replaced oil. Diesel was more reliable and efficient and thus cheaper than Oil fired steam.
Did we sign an international agreement that hence forth and hear on no coal fired ships would be built? No. Why? Because we didn’t need to. Nobody is going to build a ship that uses a less efficient fuel, and cost more to run than a cheaper, more reliable alternative.
But is that really the case? I am interested in Cars. Automobiles. So let’s examine the Socialist record on the environment regarding cars.
Eastern Block cars were, to put a point to it, terrible. Simply terrible. We’ll start where West met East in Germany. While West Germany was developing dozens of great cars, and some of the best known manufacturers were gaining market share through innovation including efficiency of engines and cleanliness of the exhaust. They were not the only Germans manufacturing cars. Yes, East Germany had two options for the masses. Both were disasterous.
The first, Trabant. Trabant - Wikipedia
The car was manufactured using cotton and a resin to replace the materials used in the decadent West. You know, things like Fiberglass, Steel, Aluminum, or Carbon Fiber. There was only one problem. The bodies never break down. If there was a fire, the Duroplast was toxic as hell. It was not biodegradable, and it was powered by a two cycle engine that required premix gasoline. In other words, the oil was mixed in with the gas, like a small lawnmower engine. This obviously produces far more pollution than a dozen of those capitalist produced cars of the era. It wasn’t the only car available. You could, if you were very good, get a Wartburg. It was the more exclusive car, for the really reliable East Germans. It also used a two stroke engine, right up until the fall of the Wall.
Well, perhaps East Germans, unlike their Western Counterparts, did not have the engineering savvy.
Soviet Block cars were just flat terrible. The best selling of these was the Lada Riva. For those of you who don’t know, let me give you the history of this terrible auto. It was originally a license built Fiat 124. For those who don’t know, that car was originally produced in 1966. The Soviets bought a factory from Fiat, who gave them the tools needed to build Fiat 124’s. When this deal was penned, the Soviet representatives bragged that this car would not like the Detroit cars, be introduced with a planned obsolescence. They could well be building this car for a decade, or more. If only they knew how long the Lada would be built.
Link to the Fiat 124, the grandfather first manufactured when we had not even been to the moon. Fiat 124 - Wikipedia
The Lada that was built and sold until..... 2012. Yes, the pinnacle of Soviet Manufacturing and efficiency was still producing a car based upon an Italian Sedan from 1966. Fifty years of the same terrible design. Lada Riva - Wikipedia
Now, in the 1960’s, the 124 was revolutionary. But it was quickly overtaken by progress and was obsolete in far less than a decade.
So Socialist cars are... Terrible. They are polluting, they are incredibly bad for the environment, and the bodies of Trabant’s will be with us for another century, or more.
Hardly the efficient or environmentally friendly approach we are told that is necessary and achievable only through Socialism.
In the meantime, in the Capitalist West, cars were becoming more environmentally friendly. Leaded gasoline went the way of the Dodo, and efficiency was increasing all the time. More recycled material is going into the cars, and our Capitalist Corporations are finding new ways to stretch a watt of energy.
Today, the Socialist nations, are producing diddly squat worth having. Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea produce nothing. The most that can be said is that North Korea is straining it’s limits to copy the work of others to develop nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
While the Capitalists are risking and building things like this. Inside Tesla's New Electric Semi-Truck
I don’t know if Musk’s electric truck is going to work. I’m doubtful, because I know how hard trucks work to get cargo going, and keep it going. Diesel, which is one of the most energy dense fuels available, is burned at a rate of seven miles per gallon, and in some trucks eight, or nine miles per gallon. Basically none of the big trucks are getting ten or more per gallon in reality.
Then again, that is the genius of the Capitalist System. Progress. While Socialist systems tend to stifle progress, unless it is on the plan, and how do you plan for it? Capitalist systems operate because someone is always working on something better. Safer more efficient cars. We have four cylinder engines today producing more horsepower than the V-8 engines of my youth. They burn a quarter of the gas, and produce tremendous power. Every western manufacturer is producing some sort of Hybrid vehicle. Even more efficiency, and it’s standard these days. Everyone has it.
Venezuela is pretty much giving up trying to feed their population, much less push innovation. Cuba is still driving around in cars that were old when the Fiat 124 was introduced.
No sir, Capitalism is not the problem. If you need more proof of that, look at shipping. Coal replaced wind. Coal was more reliable than the vagaries of wind. Oil replaced coal, oil was more efficient and reliable than coal. Diesel replaced oil. Diesel was more reliable and efficient and thus cheaper than Oil fired steam.
Did we sign an international agreement that hence forth and hear on no coal fired ships would be built? No. Why? Because we didn’t need to. Nobody is going to build a ship that uses a less efficient fuel, and cost more to run than a cheaper, more reliable alternative.
